"Sup Takuma" you say, casually as ever, approaching the male sitting by the building waiting for you. "You're here later than usual" he pointed out, looking up questioningly at you. "Yeah, I usually get my sleep in during the afternoon, but due to the whole 'Saint chocolates'-thing I didn't really get time for that" you explained before sitting down. "Oh, right. Thank you for the chocolates, by the way" he replied with another one of those handsome smiles, which made your cheeks turn a slight shade of pink."Yeah, about that... I should probably tell you the whole story, since it did get kinda awkward there, didn't it..." you say awkwardly before you start telling the story of how Minami and Shoko forced you to give away chocolates with blackmail and how you didn't really know any guys on a friendly level and found it awfully awkward to give away a gift for some guy you didn't even know. Okay, you may have over exaggerated a bit when explaining it, but still...

Your explanation to your being late was however a huge lie. In fact, you hadn't slept a wink. You were planning on leaving half an hour after Minami, Mizuki and Shoko fell asleep, but about ten minutes before you were about to leave a very strong and sweet smell came into your room. When smelling it you immediately started feeling dizzy and your throat started feeling extremely dry. You got extremely hungry and thirsty and your legs became so shaky you could barely stand up straight. In the end you had to lay down on your bed, waiting for the worst of it to disappear, and that ended up taking about two hours.

"So, that's all of it" you say, finishing the story of you getting blackmailed, making Takuma giggle slightly at your obvious exaggerations. "Well, I'm not really surprised. You don't really seem like one of those girls who's all that interested in giving chocolates to guys" he say with a vague smile. "Spot on, one would think you've known me forever" you say with a smirk while nudging his side with your elbow. "Almost feels that way" he replies with a smile that seemed much more sincere than yours, making you once again blush slightly before hitting his arm playfully. It was all true, though. To anyone watching you two would've seemed like old friends joking around, not to speak of the fact that you were meeting up secretly at night, which might have given anyone else the wrong signals.

As you make it to class next morning you're still not feeling all too well. The hunger had mostly gone away after breakfast, but it was still faintly there, and the dizziness just wasn't letting up more than it already had when the smell disappeared. You tried to act as natural as you could, but of course the act didn't just quite convince everyone.

"(f/n)? What's up, you look sick" Mizuki stated worriedly as you sat down next to her. "Huh? I'm fine" you try to reassure her, your head starting to pound at the sound of her high pitched voice, making you reflexively put your hand on your temple. "No, you're not, you look pale. And your eyes are bloodshot" she said, still worriedly. "I just didn't get enough sleep last night. I'll be better in a little while" you once again tried reassuring the worried girl. You weren't convincing her, but she also knew that when you'd made up your mind about something there wasn't much she could do to stop you. Minami was another story, but she hadn't noticed the state you were in yet, and you weren't planning on letting her notice either.

In the end you ended up once again sleeping in class. Just like last time you got yelled at before making some smartass retort, getting put on the spot, nailing it and going back to your seat where the teacher sent you death glares. Only one thing of interest actually happened during that lesson, you were informed about a new teacher that would be starting tomorrow.

Afterwards you ate lunch with Mizuki and the others, trying your very best to look as fine as possible. For once lately you weren't failing miserably, which made you feel a tiny bit proud of yourself. That was until you started zoning out, once again turning pale. As Minami's ranting about you taking bad care of yourself woke you, you quickly tried to collect yourself and look fine again. You had to reassure the three girls countless times during the meal, but in the end they gave up, much to your surprise.

The day went on and after the last class you hurried back to get some actual sleep, which you got. Not that it made you feel a whole lot better, though. Your head was still pounding and you still felt that weird hunger/thirst from last night. You took some time collecting yourself before heading out again, getting there before Takuma this time. You sigh quietly before sitting down cautiously, as to not worsen the headache.

About an hour later Takuma arrived. He gave you a weird look when he approached you. "Are you alright? You don't look too good" he stated before he sat down, putting his hand against your forehead to check your temperature. When he had confirmed that you didn't have a fever you gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, I've just been a bit out of it lately..." you explain, deciding that the weird headache and thirst was probably best kept to yourself. "If you say so... By the way, I won't be here tomorrow" he stated, looking at you for a response. "Really, why not?" you ask, the disappointment way too easy to detect for your liking. "I'm having my birthday party tomorrow, I'd invite you but the crowd probably wouldn't suit you" he said, trying not to reveal the fact that every single guest at the party would be a vampire. "Really? Happy birthday in advance, then. I guess if that's the case I can manage on my own for one night" you say with a kind smile, making his cheeks turn the slightest shade of red. You didn't notice it, though, luckily for him.

As time passed you started feeling more and more tired as the headache grew heavier and heavier. This resulted in that you, a couple of hours in, fell asleep, your head landing on Takuma's lap. He blushed furiously before realizing what was going on. When he saw your sleeping face he simply removed his jacket, draping it over you like a cover.

Author's note! Second update this week, yay! As you might have noticed, the story is finally progressing, as well. As I'm going back to regular schedule next week I won't update until the weekend. Even so, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you're looking forward to the next one! //Yours truly, Handsomesquid :3